”Then, to Allah belongs [all] praise – Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth, Lord of the worlds. (36)

And to Him belongs [all] grandeur within the heavens and the earth, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (37)’ [Qur’an chapter 45, verse 36-37]

2- Tawhid Asmaa wa Sifaat- Oneness of Allah in His Names and Attributes-

Many of Allah’s names and attributes are mentioned in various places in the Qur’an and the authentic hadith narrations.

For instance, Allah says:

‘And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah , so call on Him by them, and leave the company of those who belie or deny (or utter impious speech against) His Names. They will be requited for what they used to do.’ [Qur’an 7:180]

And Allah says (interpretation of meaning) :

‘He is Allah beside Whom La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the King, the Holy, the One Free from all defects, the Giver of security, the Watcher over His creatures, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allah! (High is He) above all that they associate as partners with Him. [Qur’an, 59:23]

and:

‘Allah! La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), Al-Hayyul-Qayyum (the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists). Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission? He knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.‘[This Verse Qur’an, chapter 2:v255 is called Ayat-ul-Kursi ]’

One crucial point that must be made, is that Allah is The One, and He does not have any rival, and none is comparable to Him. The 112th chapter of the Qur’an beautifully captures this:

‘Say (O Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “He is Allah, (the) One.{1}

3- Tawhid ul ‘ibaadah- Oneness of Allah in His right to be worshipped alone.

In the Qur’an:

‘O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous – (21)

[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. (22)’ [Qur’an chapter 2, verses 21-22]

Allah is the True God:

‘And your god is one God. There is no deity [worthy of worship] except Him, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.’ [Qur’an chapter 2 verse 163]

‘Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, (1)

The Sovereign of mankind. (2)

The God of mankind, (3)’ [Qur’an chapter 114: verses 1-3]

Since Allah is the One who created us, nutures us, protects us, sustains us, grants us good, averts harm from us, the One who will cause us to die, and resurrect us and bring us to account, surely He deserves the worship. And our purpose in life is to attribute Oneness to Allah, as He deserves in His Lordship, names and attributes and worship. We need to affirm Allah’s Oneness in our belief, statements and actions.

It is Allah alone, upon Whom we call at time of ease and distress. It is Allah Who responds to our invocations however He wills. It is Allah Who has supreme control over the universe, He is The Almighty, The All-Powerful. He is The Compeller, The Dominator, The Irresistable.

Because we need to fulfil our purpose of existence, and we need to worship Allah and humble ourselves before the Self-Sufficient Master Whom all creatures need, Who is The Rich, Free of all needs, The Self-Sustaining. There is no true God worthy of worship except Allah. And Muhammad peace be upon him is the servant and final messenger of Allah.

Crucially, it is incumbent upon us that we worship Allah the way He commanded, in accordance to the Qur’an and Sunnah of His final prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.

And the greatest sin, in the sight of Allah, is ‘shirk’ , that is, associating a partner with Allah in Lordship and worship. May Allah protect us from shirk. ameen.

“Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship), but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He wills; and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.” [Qur’an, chapter 4 verse 48]

This is part four of the first lesson in Islamic creed (Aqidah) Lesson. This one is ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY pertinent.

There follows the third category of analysis of Tawhid and Islamic Monotheism

Categories of Analysis of Tawhid continued

3- Tawhid al ‘Ibaadah- (Oneness of Allah in His right to be worshipped alone).

We understand that Allah is the Lord of all that exists, He is the Sustainer, The Protector, The Provider, The Ever-Living, The Self-Subsisting, uncreated Eternal Creator, whose names and attributes are perfect, and there is no similitude to Him.

Once we recognise this, we must ultimately come to the conclusion that The Supreme Creator, Allah, is surely the only One deserving of our worship and devotion.

Undoubtedly, He is the One providing for us and the One who originated us, without any need for us whatsoever. Allah is the Rich, Free of all needs, The Praiseworthy. Allah’s existence does not depend on anything, for He is the Self-Existing and Self-Sustaining. Yet we, as mere created beings, must be cognisant of the fact that we are in need, we are poor, we are powerless. We NEED Allah. We need to worship Him, because this is the purpose for which we were created. And whether we worship Allah or not, this does not add or detract from His Majesty and Might in the least bit, for He is The Self-Sufficient master whom all creatures need.

In sha Allah we will mention some proofs from the authentic Islamic texts regarding the content in the previous lessons.

Here’s part three of the first lesson in Islamic creed (Aqidah) Lesson. Pay attention because it’s IMPORTANT!

We will discuss the second category of analysis of Tawhid and Islamic Monotheism

Categories of Analysis of Tawhid continued

2- Tawhid- asmaa wa sifaat- (Oneness of Allah in His names and attributes).

Allah is One in His names, His attributes and essence. There is no similitude to Him. Allah has many names! Knowledge of these beautiful names and Divine attributes help us to know more about Allah, so we can worship Him in a more perfect manner. For instance, we know that Allah is Al-Hayy (The Ever-Living) and Al-Qayyum (The Self-Existing, The One Who sustains all that exists).

Therefore, we understand that only the Eternal One, has the right to be worshipped, whereas all other things are mere, powerless created beings, who rely on the sustainence and protection of Allah (The Supreme uncreated Creator). Incidentally, Allah does not depend on anything, He is the Free of all needs, The Self-Subsisting, The Praiseworthy. Many of Allah’s names and attributes can be found in the Authentic Islamic texts, namely the Qur’an and the Saheeh Ahaadith.

Allah does not resemble His creation, neither do they resemble Him. He is Unique in His Oneness, He is One, and there is nothing like Him. None of the creation share His names and attributes, for we are limited in capacity and ability and we cannot comprehend everything. Since Allah is the Creator, undoubtedly He must be the Omniscient, The All-Knowing, The All-Hearing, The All-Seeing, The All-Powerful, The Capable of all things, The Determiner.

And there’s more!

But anyways, In sha Allah, in the next session, we will discuss the third category of Tawhid.

May Allah forgive our sins, for He is the Most Forgiving, The Most Merciful. May Allah abundantly bless His final messenger Muhammad peace be upon him, ameen

All praise be to Allah, and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon His final messenger Muhammad peace be upon him.

Asalamu alaykum, dear respected readers, we hope you are well!

Today, in sha Allah, we will take a glimpse at the Islamic Creed, or ‘Aqidah studies.

Let’s get started with the topic entitled TAWHID – Islamic Monotheism

Tawhid – Islamic monotheism

In Islam, we are required to uphold Tawhid.

Tawhid is an Arabic verbal noun, coming from the verb wahhada, which means to unify.

However, when we use it in an Islamic sense, we understand that Allah is already One! He is Al-Waahid, Al-Ahad (The One), Al-Witr (The Indivisible).

What is meant by upholding Tawhid, is that we must affirm and maintain our understanding of the complete Oneness of Allah, in His Lordship, His names and attributes, and His right to be worshipped alone.

Following the spread of Islam, the scholars of Islam deduced three categories of analysis regarding Tawhid, in order to combat the deviations people began to develop. The categories are:

1- Tawhid Ar-rububiyyah (Oneness in Allah in His Lordship)

2-Tawhid- asmaa -wa-sifaat (Oneness in Allah in His Names and Attributes)